Television succeeds in the entertainment industry because it changes every day. Viewers demand something new and the cable and TV industry continuously delivers novelty using production oriented tools and methodologies.
Interactive computer programs such as video games, entertain for much the same reason. A user makes selections based on the information content of the display and provides feedback to the computer game program which feedback alters the course of the program.
Multimedia presentations stimulate viewers' senses utilizing a number of reproduction media such as large screen video projection systems, realistic audio reproduction systems producing three dimensional wrap around sound, light shows, smoke generators, temperature controls, motion and acceleration simulators, smell generators and the like. A multiplicity of these media can be combined to give very realistic presentations. Some presentations of this nature are found in amusements park simulations which give riders a sense of actually participating in the events being reproduced in multimedia.
With the development of video on demand system such as disclosed in the aforesaid pending applications, a need has arisen to provide menus to assist a user, inter alia, in the selection of program materials available. In a similar application, one may wish to produce a variety of electronic catalogs from which a user can select items to purchase.
In the area of education, it is often desirable to not only present information to a student in multimedia format, by which learning is enhanced, but also to obtain feedback from the student by which the adequacy of a student's learning may be assessed. The content of the material presented to the student may be altered, based on the assessment to assist the student to overcome any deficiency in the state of his knowledge.
As another example, during delivery of a Presidential speech, one may desire to obtain immediate feedback of audience reaction to various portions of the speech.
Thus, the ability to integrate interactive functionality with other media to create an integrated interactive multimedia presentations or applications is highly desirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,456 to MacKay issued Apr. 26, 1994, discloses a multimedia production and authoring system in which the system assets and resources are interconnected by a real time local area network. The system utilizes a graphical user interface to create, define, edit and order elements for use in a multimedia production. However, typical of devices of this type, no provision is made for the integration of interactive resources into the presentation. Any interactivity would need to be added after completion of the final compositing, that is after all the objects which will constitute the multimedia application are assembled and integrated into a unitary application.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,732 to Gerloc et al. issued May 31, 1994, and entitled System For Relocating A Multimedia Presentation On A Different Platform By Extracting A Resource Map In Order To Re-map And Relocate Resources discloses a process for relocating a plurality of multimedia presentations from one memory to another memory. The patent apparently permits elementary computer programming to occur in the form of simple math expressions which can be integrated into course work. The patent addresses "interactive capabilities" but these appear to refer to the interactions between the program developer and the source materials which are inherent in any authoring tool rather than the kind of interaction which occurs between the end user and the developed multimedia application. The patent permits certain blocks of multimedia information which may repeat upon playback to be assembled in reusable subroutines.
Production of an interactive multimedia application (such as a movie, courseware, video games, menus and the like) is normally divided into three phases: pre-production, lasting typically three to four weeks; production, typically lasting four to seven weeks and post-production, typically lasting four to five weeks. If interactivity is needed between an end user and the multimedia presentation, an additional three to four weeks for product development and another four to six weeks for systems integration and testing can be expected. The total process, therefore, can be considered to routinely consume eighteen to twenty-six weeks.
The pre-production phase typically involves signing the agreement with the customer, logic design, schedule development and rapid prototyping. Rapid prototyping typically involves creation/acquisition of placeholder assets to represent assets to be produced, an interactive story board presentation to permit viewing the application at a high level and to permit a usability test, and casting and script writing. Rapid prototyping is a development methodology which permits a customer to see the overall functionality at a high level prior to commitment to a production budget.
The production phase consists of the acquisition or creation of graphical elements, video elements, audio elements, still images, filming and the like. During this time, the actual assets to be integrated into the final product are created.
In post-production, the raw assets are edited and portions of them combined. Audio mixing, digital editing, the application of text overlays and graphical elements are all combined or composited into an integrated multimedia presentation. Typically, after compositing, if interactivity is needed, the interactive programs are produced and integrated.
Such an 18-26 week development cycle is unsuited for development of multimedia menus for video on demand service because program offerings change rapidly. The development process is also unsuited for many of the other interactive applications discussed above because the development cycle simply takes too long. Similarly, the process of refreshing an existing multimedia application such as a CD ROM catalog is slow and cumbersome. Prior art file structures for multimedia applications tend to be unsuited for integration across the different systems available from different manufacturers of computers and video equipment.
The process of adding interactivity after compositing adds substantially to the development time. Further, the integration of computer programs providing interactive functionality requires a high level of expertise typical of that required of software engineers, making the process beyond the ability of most post-production personnel. Once the interactive functionality is designed, the post-production user has no control over the content or changes to the logic that the post-production person might desire to make in response to changes in program content. Further, the post-production user has limited control over the timing and delivery of a program previously developed. Once an interactive multimedia product has been released for distribution, there is limited or no ability to reuse assets.